Micivi awards contract to Giammattei financier who gave evidence as “Witness A”

On May 9, the Road Protection Executive Unit (Covial) awarded a contract worth 12.8 million quetzales to Constructora Romero, owned by William Haroldo Romero Chojolán.

The award was given when Jazmín de la Vega was still in charge of the Ministry of Transport. The new Minister, Félix Alvarado, approved the actions of the Competition Qualification Committee, as provided for in Resolution No. SADS-282-2024 of May 23.

The qualifications committee and ministers de la Vega and Alvarado did not take into account the background of Constructora Romero, whose name was mentioned in two important corruption cases.

The first was that “Witness A” (later identified as the son of former President Manuel Baldison) mentioned that he was part of a business plan to provide funds so that Alejandro Giammattei would not replace the Minister of Transportation appointed by Jimmy Morales. The second was the 98 million quetzales received when his cousin Fredy Chojolán headed the General Directorate of Highways.

The awards granted by this government are to maintain the sections San Antonio de las Flores – Chinautla; El Carrizal, San Raimundo – Vila Vuelta Grande, Chirancho, Guatemala; San Juan Sacatepéquez – Pachalum; San Pedro Sacatepéquez – San Juan Sacatepéquez; and Montúfar – KM 52 in the direction of Pachalum, all in the Department of Guatemala.

Witness A’s statement

El Salvador Digital Newspapers el faro revealed the existence of a testimony that tells how a group of Guatemalan builders in 2019 developed a plan to deliver $2.6 million during the presidential campaign of Alejandro Giammattei. The goal was to keep the Minister of Transport, José Luis Benito, in office, thus being able to continue operating the public works incentive structure of the Jimmy Morales government.

The testimony that revealed the structure was recorded by the then judge Ericka Aifán in May 2021. It was evidence given by an advance, who was later confirmed to be Jorge Baldizón Vargas, son of former presidential candidate Manuel Baldizón.

The audio concerns the JJRM construction company, which, according to an investigation published by elPeriódico, is controlled by William Haroldo Romero Chojolán. Although his name does not appear in public records, there are several direct links.

The first is the first name, which corresponds to the first and last initials of his two children. On the other hand, according to the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS), from March 2015 to July 2017, the employer contribution of Carolina Izabel Meléndez Flores was paid by William Haroldo Romero Chojolán and since then by Construcciones y Servicios Romero, SA, which also has a part of his conglomerate.

“This practice was common among builders,” said a witness identified only as “A,” explaining how construction worked. “They rented out their companies to businessmen who had more political control at the time.”

«This is the case of JJRM … For SCM, owned by Alejandro Matheu, they operate with a percentage or partial payment of the projects (…) so that they can use their company to obtain these awards and, of course, to build. According to the testimonies, the businessman with the most political control is Matheu, because he is close to Jimmy Morales, and the one who rented the company to him is Romero Joholan.

Witness “A” also claimed to have witnessed the moment of negotiation in which Giammattei agreed by phone with José Luis Benito to accept a bribe of US$2.6 million offered by the construction company for the VAMOS campaign in exchange for staying in the position of Minister of Transport.

When questioned by El Faro, Romero Jojoran denied the allegations.

Benefited from his cousin’s millionaire contract

The second case began with the appointment of former President Giammattei and a complaint filed by a committee set up by the same president.

On January 27, 2020, Giammattei appointed Fredy Chojolán Duarte, cousin of William Haroldo Romero Chojolán, as head of the Directorate General of Roads (DGC) of the Ministry of Transportation.

William Haroldo and his brother Marcos Vinicio Romero Chojolán were two emerging builders who controlled, through employees and family members, more than 40 small construction companies that worked with Covial. Until then, they had not had the opportunity to secure a larger contract with the DG Roads.

Under the management of Fredy Chojolán, the General Directorate of Roads awarded two contracts to Constructora JJRM for a total of 87.9 million quetzales. In addition, the company received another $23.4 million from the Road Protection Unit (Covial).

As a result, two units of the Ministry of Transport awarded four contracts totaling 111.4 million quetzales.

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On October 29, 2020, Fredy Chojolán was fired after he claimed, during a summons by his congressional deputies, that he did not know the whereabouts of the budget transfer of 135 million quetzales and that someone might have forged his signature on documents during his tenure, following his contraction of COVID-19.

The then-Transportation Secretary, Josué Edmundo Lemus, told the media that the funds had been used to pay for different highway replacement projects and ordered Chojolán’s dismissal for “tainting the work of the Ministry of Transportation for the sake of transparency.”

On November 25, 2020, the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission of Giammattei, led by Óscar Dávila, filed a criminal complaint against Fredy Chojolán for awarding contracts to various companies owned by his relatives.

«In July and August of this year (2020), he favored companies related to his cousins ​​Haroldo Romero Chojolán and Héctor Leonel Romero Chojolán, shareholders and/or founding partners of the entities Constructora JJRM, Sociedad Anónima, Construcciones y Servicios Romero, SA; construction and supervision of the CSPROYET project; and Constructora Romero; and his cousin Ericka Marlene Tahuite Chojolán, affiliated to the company Servicios y Construcciones Mega, SA; awarding offers (work contracts) totaling One hundred and forty-six million, three hundred and eighty-four thousand, two hundred and fourty-nine quetzales and ten centavos (Q146,384,249.10)”, submitted to the Public Ministry.

Following the complaint, William Haroldo Romero Chojolan and Constructora JJRM, SA, and Construcciones y Servicios Romero, SA, all stopped receiving contracts with the Ministry of Transportation until now.

Misivi’s concerns

Public Square consulted Minister Felix Alvarado about the resolution he signed in favor of the contract in favor of Romero Construction Co. Initially, the official said he had no information about that specific case.

“I am concerned that the Ministry of Transportation is a fund that pays revenues to people who are involved in illegal activities. “I am concerned that the CIV pays off people who could be involved in undermining democratic stability in Guatemala,” he said.

Alvarado added that since he took office, he has found “a ton of contracts that are flawed… I call it a toxic portfolio for a reason because everything, every level, is flawed,” he said.

The official also noted that “as we develop information systems, improve control systems, and especially open, expand and clean up the contractor market, this problem will no longer be a problem, but I can’t guarantee that now.”».

The president of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (CNC), Santiago Palomo, said through his communications team that his office “is preparing the necessary amendments to know the ultimate beneficiaries of state contractor companies”.

The commissioner added that according to Article 13 of Government Agreement No. 31-2024, “if the MP refuses, the PGN will take action to follow up on the complaint.”

The head of the Attorney General’s Office (PGN), Julio Saavedra, was consulted on this issue and he stated that “PGN takes remedial actions on behalf of the State in criminal cases to which it has a counterpart. In the case brought by the former Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission, it appears that the PGN did take such actions and conducted a follow-up investigation into it.

However, he noted that in the specific complaint against Fredy Chojolán and his relatives, the PGN did not appear as subject of the proceedings. “We will verify the current status of the file and will act in the manner appropriate under the law,” said Saavedra.

The Public Ministry also requested information on the progress of the complaint filed against Fredy Chojolán Duarte, but the entity’s director of information and press, Juan Luis Pantaleón, did not respond to calls made or messages sent to your mobile phone.

The only thing that is known unofficially is that a complaint was registered against Fredy Chojolán and his relatives under the number MP001-2020-43824, later linked to the file MP001-2020-45571, which is currently under investigation.